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November 20, 2009

Thanksgiving – Thank You Lord

How great it is to be an American. Oh how blessed we are. Sure there is much going on, but even so, and as much as I write and express my concerns about the Administration and changing worldviews, we are so fortunate to live in this great Nation. Thankful to God we should all be as we were placed here for a reason. Do you know why? Have you considered why?

As a Christian, of which I am proud, never ashamed, and excited every day about the gospel and what it tells us all, I can reflect on our Salvation and Faith. We are a body of volunteers that love the Lord, are awed by his sacrifice for us (not just us, but all mankind), inspired by the Word, filled with his resurrection confirming grace, guaranteed and filled by his Spirit. We are members of a base of followers, separated at times by the creeds, doctrines and hierarchy of over a 1,000 denominations (of Catholic and Protestant Churches), united in knowing Christ. Man, and that we all are, is by actions, words and deeds sinful. We are bad. Yes – bad. No transgression large or small is anything other than a crime against God. Selfish rules and regulations, structured programs providing political fodder to attain position and stature, corporate like organizations laddered with titles empowering individuals at various levels, and the imposition of conditions and control, oversight and punishment, exist and were developed by man so man can regulate an environment styled by man. Man cannot make man God. Truth exists. How we find it, how we determine it, how we share it, and how we accept it is the determinate of our future – our worldview.

In the process of writing another book, currently titled Bang Bang – God is Real, I explore truth, denial, love, hope and doubt. I look at the history of world views today shaped by atheists, philosophers, and scientists, the challenges imposed, and underlying facets of their claims. They all seem to know God, but try their best to explain man’s existence and purpose without the influence of the supernatural, in turn they spin their doctrines into life without God. What have they to be thankful for? Is it themselves? Is it their intellect and talent? But what about the source – the cause? What are they missing? You know as I do – it is the Divine influence on Everything. A quote from my manuscript (draft), “They are using their ability (and I would claim it is an ability gifted to them by God) to accept information, analyze the data and using the powers of deduction and reason to come to a rational conclusion, or a decision on their part. This proper exercise of the mind, a reflection of man’s intelligence, which can ingest, digest and regurgitate information in a form others can understand, debate, question or agree, is an amazing gift. The giver of the gift, indeed the one that needs to be thanked (if the Philosophers and atheists were inclined to thank anyone) is God. The gift of the conscience of man is possibly that of God’s image in man itself, the spirit that fills our hearts and minds each day with thoughts, the consideration of temptations, the decisions to do what is right or wrong, and the response to and ability to dwell on the consequences. That giver, God, has become a most popular topic of the thinkers noted. Some may consider God their personal nightmare, others their greatest frustration, but all keep God in focus attempting as they may to discredit his role. ”

We this Thanksgiving time must be thankful to God for everything, and everything is spiritual.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” – Psalm 100:4-5. Indeed his love and faithfulness are unfailing through all time. Time to worship him and be thankful.

Copies of the current book – Wake Up! Wake Up! The Testimony of a Layman – are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, my website (http://www.TomBalderston.com), in ebooks and soon as an Audiobook. Purchase now as Christmas presents for your Christian friends, and those that are interested in knowing more about their faith.